Cool Editorial Staff

Science’s Signals – Week 2

Science’s Signals is a weekly selection. It contains some of the insights found during our desk research. Signals we use in our continuous trend research, combined with the examples from our network and the results of the International Cool City Hunt research.

This week’s covered topics: Urban Cyber Gardening, Kinetic Energy, the Apple vs. the Disney Experience, Cyber Music and The Quantified Self. With Signals from the Atlantic, Forbes, Dezeen, Financial Times, NY Times and the Pop-Up City.

The Quantified Self
Let us begin with the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Conference, which is now happening in Las Vegas. Forbes reports, and informs us that 2013 could be the year of the Quantified Self. An interesting theme, that we can relate to the ‘smart fork’ we found at Dezeen. When you eat too much or too fast, the Hapilabs Hapifork starts to vibrate. With an app, of course, because there’s an app for everything. Expect more wearable tracking devices in the years to come. Check out these items at the…. Quantified Self. And there’s more from CES, who else than Wired has the list.

Kinetics
From the topic covered above to Kinetics, it’s a small step. The idea of using our own energy as a source for power is not brand new, but it is developing. Expect your clothes to be a power plant with Tegwear and you’ll never need batteries again. We wrote about Pavegen -the smart tiles that produce energy- before and they’re are getting pretty serious now that they’re on Kickstarter:

Pavegen: Kinetic Energy from Students

A really good idea, giving the fact that iPavement is also working on the same concept. We expect it to land in our cities soon….

Cyborg Music
Using our body parts to produce something is also key in this next example. Remember the Nike Music Sneaker? Tokyo based artist Daito Manabe is back with The Creators Project, in which he controls sound with his face.“Cyborg Music”, the Atlantic calls it:

The Creators Project-Controlling Sound with Your Face

And now that we are on the subject, have a look at this short documentary about our Cyborg Future.

Apple Experience vs. Disney Experience
Apple is trying to stay ahead in the experience game, but it seems the company is losing territory day after day. So, they have decided to launch something different from the iPhone. Less experience and cheaper, we read in the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile Apple is trying to reinvent wind power as well. Maybe CEO Tim Cook is trying the Google formula. Besides core business ‘search’ the internet giant is exploiting different fields of innovation. But, Google has its own problems as Brussels forces the search giant to change the way it presents its search results , so we read in the FT.

Back to Apple. Available for your potty or for free in a vending machine on your campus in the near future. Talking about universities, Apple should focus on Disney with a couple of eyes to stay ahead of the game. Look at the way they recharge the experience around the film Monsters, Inc. Its sequel Monsters University is going to be released in 2013, so they decided to create the brand experience in a virtual university:

Imagine You at MU

Excel in the art of extreme creepyness and apply here! More Disney in the NY Times, a rubber bracelet should be enough to enter the parks in the near future. Involving!

Claim Your CityThe Pop-Up City informs us about reclaiming the city the digital way. The old version we’ve named Cool Appropriation in the past and can be found in our Decade Influencer Urbanism, but this new version is also quite spectacular. It is, basically, leaving your digital mark to claim your own territory. For instance, while running or skateboarding. More info here. The old fashioned way can still be pretty Cool as well:

Urban ‘Cyber’ Gardening
Talking urban. If you’re planning to do some necessary outdoor work this weekend, it might be interesting to explore the possibility for a cyber garden first. While you’re at it, feel free to install the Parrot Flower Power (via Bright). Urban Agriculture is heading to its next level. More understanding at Dezeen.

No week goes by without examples of 3D printing. Not always they make it to our final selection. This week’s closing Signal is an exception: 3D figurines from children’s drawings by Crayon Creatures. A ‘physical virtuality’ cuteness/feel-good overload guaranteed!

Comments

Disney is my favorite in this blogpost.
Quantified Self is around for a while and indeed develops at rapid pace. The listed examples in the link are for sure worth watching. In fact, yesterday, I heard someone say: “We will arrive in an era where doctors will prescribe apps.”